Melinda and Melinda
My Review:
Interesting premise: the same story told two ways simultaneously, as a drama and as a comedy. This is very much a Woody Allen movie, and this time Woody stays behind the camera and gives his role to the versatile Will Ferrell. All of Will’s lines are classic Woody! Radha Mitchell plays both Melindas, and she really delineates the characters. She’s one to watch, I know we’ll be seeing a lot of this actress. Amanda Peet is delightful, as always, as Will’s wife, a film director. The comedy version was superior to the drama version. I think it’s more difficult for Woody to play it straight. So many of the lines in the drama were melodramatic – it was a little over the top.
Melinda and Melinda
- -While dining out with friends, Sy suggests the difficulty of separating comedy from tragedy. To illustrate his point, he tells his guests two parallel stories about Melinda ; both versions have the same basic elements, but one take on her state of affairs leans toward levity, while the other is full of anguish. Each story involves Melinda coping with a recent divorce through substance abuse while beginning a romantic relationship with a close friend's husband.
